Gas explosion-engine.



W. S. KELLOGG, JR.

GAS EXPLOSION ENGINE. APPLIGATIOHIILED JAN. 22. 1907.

950, 1 55 7 Patented Feb. 22, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

l l n l l l l W. s. KELLOGG, JR.

GAS EXPLOSION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 22, 1907.

Patented Feb. 22, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. s. KELLOGG, JR. GAS EXPLOSION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN .22 1907. 950, 1 55, Patented Feb. 22, 1910.

SSHEETS-SHEET 3.

I Q l I E L 710364464. v fir/i/i' mil lam 5. fillqy di WILLIAM S.KELLOGG, JR., OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS.

GAS EXPLOSION-ENGINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be known that I, WXLLIAM S. KnLLocG, J r., citizen of the United States,residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas :Ex losion- Engines;and I do hereby declare t at the following is a full, clear, and exactdescrip tion of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it apperta1ns to make and use the same.

This invention pertains to gas explosion engines.

It has for one of its-objects to produce an. engine of the gas explosiontype whose cylinder and piston cannot become excessively heated. i

A further object is to construct an engine in which the burned gases areprevented as much as possible from reaching the contacting or workingsurfaces of the piston and c linder. i

A urther object is to provide in a gas explosion engine a structure inwhich the working surfaces of the piston and cylinder are kept free ofall abrading or cutting substances that may enter the explosion chamberor that may be created therein.

A still further object of the invention-is to invert the piston of thecommon form of gas explosion engines and use the cavity. thereof inwhich to both compress and ignite the gases. 1 r

The invention also relates to certain details of construction by whichto obtain certain advanta geous results to be pointed out herein. F

-In the ordinary type of gas engines, as is well known, the burninggases by contacting with the wearing surfaces of the piston and cylinderheat these members to a very high degree rendering it necessary toemploy a cooling agent, usually a Water jacket, in order to keep theheat down to a reasonably low point. The reasons for thus holding theheat in check are too well known to require lengthy explanation, oneimportant reason, however, is that the intense heatgenerated by theexplosions burns the-lubricating oil and thus carbonizes it, thusforming a. grit which is very injurious to the wearing surfaces of thecylinder and piston.

' The extent of cutting and abrading of this material is'so great as tomake it necessary to bore out the cylinder from t1me to time and replacethe piston by a new one or to pro- Specification of Letters Patent.Patented Feb. 22, 19M). Application filed January 22, 1907. Serial No.353,418.

vide for placing it in proper condition for further use. y

In my engine the gases are kept away from the metal wearing surfaceswhen in working contact there being some distance between these surfacesand the explosion chamber so that the lubricant employed between thesaid. surfaces cannot become-carbonized by the heat ofexplosion, and, inaddition, the lubricant cannot collect dust particles or carbonizedmatter entered into or created in said explosion chamber.

In the drawings presented herewith, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation ofmy new type of engine. Fig. 1 is aside elevation of the cylinder-headreduced in size from that shown in Fig. 1, showing the cylinder insection. Fig. 1 is an elevation of parts of the engine showing slightmodifications. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, of the engine on line XX, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a portion of the engine online Y Y, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the piston. Fig. 5 isplan of the engine. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of a ortion of theengine in a slightlymodified orm.

A indicates the engine cylinder mounted upon a crank-case B.

O is the shaft of the engine supported in the crank-case or by any othermethod ordinarily employed.

D is the crank, and E the connecting rod.

F is the piston of substantially. the same form as those in common usealthough peculiar in the respect that its position is inverted from thatof other engines so that its cavity F, within which the connecting rodisusually pivoted, is presented for the reception of the gas and serves asboth the compressionand the explosion chamber, the other end of theiston having proper attachment to the said connecting-rod E.

Extending downward into the cylinder I is a hollow cylinder-head G, asshown, whose outer diameter is substantially equal to that of the cavityof the pistonv thus leavingan,

annular recess between it and the cylinder wall, and the amount ofdownward extension withinfihe piston is a little less than the depth ofthe piston-cavity leaving a space within the latter for holding gas. Thecylinder-head thus constructed and -positioned is provided at its topwith a flange H by means of which itis secured to the top of thecylinder as by suitable bolts J, Fi e. 3 and 5. The piston is bored outand the res - respectively operated through spring heldsurface 1 of thecylinder head is turned off true to fit therein. The cylinder is alsobored out as usual so that the piston will snugly work between it andthefihead G within the annular space described. 'A packing-ring K isprovided at the lower extremity of the cylinder-head and similar rings Lare provided at the bottom of the piston, which, as will be noted arepositioned elow the piston cavity and thus away from the intense'heat,though I prefer to lace the rings at the top of the piston as indicatedat L in Figs. 1 and 6 and similar rings may also be carried on theinside of the piston as at L in Fig. 1". In placing the rings at the topof the piston they are kept'entirely away from the vicinity of theexplosion chamber.

By my peculiar form of engine the explosions are confined within thepiston cavity entirely, the wearing surfaces between the cylinder andpiston being remote from and" out of reach of the gases. The heatconveyed to the wearing surfaces is only by conduction through themetals and the cooling by air currents is sufficient to prevent overheating at those parts.

Oil placed within the cavity F for lubricating the piston andcylinder-head surfaces when carbonized by the heat of the burning gases,is prevented entering the cylinder proper by the packing rings L in thepiston or the rings K in the said cylinder-head of,

which, however, there may be more than one if desired and the gases arelikewise prevented from .entering. The carbonized matter is retainedentirely within the piston and can be removed therefrom at longintervals by removing the head of the cylinder,

or by other more simple means.'

At M is the inlet pipe for conducting gas into the explosion chamberdown into and through the cylinder-head and N is the exhaust pipeleading from -the latter, these pipes being controlled by valves 0 and P'rods Q and cam-shafts R all of which is common, in one form or another,in explosion engines and "notfully described herein for that reason. Thepipes or conduits just described may be screwed into the head G or maybe cast therewith these. being removed from the engine along with thehead it being only necessary .to disconnect the valve mechanism so as toallow this to be accomplished. However, in the event of an accident andas enters the annular space or. the carbonized material finds its waythereto I have provided a ring L inthe piston as in Fig. 1, several ofthmfl being shown in Fig. 6, whereby the gas or abradin matter cannotpass down between the cy inder and said piston, i

- Since there is no pressure upon the cylinder as mother types of engmesthe metal thereof can be made thin as compared with the thickness ofthewall of the piston, so that it can be easily keptcool, My constructionprovides also for cooling the cylinder both inside and out and the heatis conducted away from 'the piston by contact with the cooled cylinder.In the common form of engine the cylinder receives the greatest amountofheat hecause it forms the explosion chamber and has the largest surface,while in my engine the inverted piston receives the bulk of the heatwhich is conveyed away by the continuously cooled cylinder. Also thehead of the piston in this case is inside the en 'ne and takes part ofthe heat of the exp osions but the actual wearing surfacesare farremoved therefrom and remain at a safe temperature. An advantage arisesin carrying the gas inlet pipe 0 through the heated cylinder-head inthat said pipe is. kept hot and the vapor passing ther'ethrough cannottherefore condense and thereby reduce the amount of gas necessary forthe explosion. Sincethe limb of the piston occupies the space between.the cylinoccurs, 'very little heat can be communicated thereto, and theonly heatcontacting with the limb is the hot gas as it expands and whichon the return stroke is expelled there being but a short intervalbetween the explosion and expulsion of the gas.

My engine has an exceedingly large cooling area by reason of its ecuharconstruction and by having the p1ston of the form shown and described Iam enabled to keep all wearing surfaces out of direct contact with theburned or burnin provide an engine of long ife and of great efficiency.It is not the intention in using gas engines to keep their cylinderscold or cool the use of the-word cool in gas engine practice being acomparative term. An

the piston within the space at the top of the cylinder alternatelyraises oil into the piston-space 1n the cylinder.and then expels itthereby keeping the piston and cylinder perfectly lubricated while alsogaining by the cooling effect that the oil may impart. It beingunderstood that the pipes are filled with the oil in anyway foundmostconvenient so that its action can be maintained gases and thus in aswill be understood. Even though the pipes merely admitted airto thespace a great advantage would be gained by the.

cooling effect upon the metals and in fact this may be done alsoby'providing a series 'of openings through which the air could be drawnand expelled for the cooling purposes as indicated'in Fig. 1 at T.

I am aware of several engines of the gas explosion type that are'constructed some-' what after the manner of mine. In one or two of thesethe piston travels in an annular space between the cylinder and thecylinder head,and this annular space constitutes the explosion chamber,the expansion Ofith burning gases actingupon the end of the piston.Since the cylinderaids in forming this explosion chamber the wearingsurface.

between the piston and said cylinder receives the carbonized substancesso detrimental to engines of this type as I have hereinbefore broughtout.

In. my engine the cylinder is exposed to the cooling action=of*theoutside air, as shown in Fig. 1, and as constructed, the piston is inintimate working contact with it so that its heat is readily conductedaway.

I am not aware of a tubular cylinder- I head extending with the cylinderand within the piston after the manner of mine and having the gas inletand exhaust passage carried therethrough and which holds the burningga'es within the piston as the explosion chamber, and whose bod servesto convey away the heat from the interior of the engine. Neither am Iapprised of an engine whose cylinder-head is .bodily re-' movable inorder to reach the explosion chamber or piston cavity.

Having pointed out the differences between my engine and others of whichI am aware, I claim:

1. In a gas explosion englne the combination of a cylinder partially aircooled, a water jacket surrounding part of said cylinvder, a pistonhaving a single cavity to constitute both the compression and theignition chamber, a cylinder-head depending into the piston cavity toclose the same and provided ;with a cavity open to the outer air, apacking-ring carried by the cylinder-head adjacent to theinner surfaceof the piston,

a packing ring carried by the outer surface of the piston next to thewall of the cylinder,

a gas inlet conduit extending through the said depending cylinder-headand opening into the piston cavity an exhaust conduit also openingthrough said head into the piston cavity, valves to govern the openingsof the conduits, and means to positively operate said valves.

2. In a gas explosion engine, a cylinder;-

a piston therein of tubular form open at one end and closed at its otherend and constituting an explosion chamber, the piston having slidablecontact throughout its length with the cylinder, a tubular pistonheadclosed at one end and extending within the cylinderinto the piston andconcentric with both, there being an annular space between said head andthe cylinder, the piston space between said tubular head and thecylinder, a tubular piston having a cavity constituting the ignition,compression and explosion chamber, its open end adapted to enter andtravel within the said annular space, andin the region surrounded by thewater jacket, the said piston adaptedforsliding contact with both thecylinder and the cylinder-head, a packing ring between the' said pistonand the said cylinder-head, there being a gas inlet and a gas outletpassage opening throu h the cylinder-head into the explosion cham er,and a valve for controlling each said passage substantially as setforth. I i

4. In a gas explosion engine, a cylinder adapted to be air coo-led, awater jacket surrounding the same at one end, a tubular cylinder-headclosed at one end and extending within that end of the cylinder havingsaid water jacket, there being an annular space between said tubularhead and the cylinder, a tubular iston having a cavity constituting theign1tion,'compression and explosion chamber, its open end adapted toenter and travel within the said annular space, and in the regionsurrounded by the water jacket, the said piston adapted for slidingcontact with both the cylinder and the cylinder-head, a packing ringbetween said piston and the said cylinder-head, a packing ring betweenthe piston and cylin'der, there being a gas inlet and a gas outletpassage' opening through the cylinderhead into the explosion chamber,and a valve for controlling each said passage substantially as setforth.

5. In a gas explosionengine, a cylinder adapted to be air cooled for thegreater portion of its length and having a water jacket at one endsurrounding the same, a tubular cylinder-head removably attached to thecylinder and closed at one end'said 1 closed end extending within thatend of the cylinder having said Water jacket, there being'an annularspace between said tubular head and the cylinder, a tubular piston openat one end and closed near its other end, its open end adapted to enterand travel within the said annular space, there being a cavity Withinthe piston for, together with the cylinder-head, constituting theexplosion chamber, the said piston providing for a sliding contactthroughout its length with the cylinder for the purposes set forth, apacking ring between said piston and cyllnder, a packing ring betweenthe piston and cylinder-head, there being a gas inlet and a gas outletpassage opening through.

the-cylinder-head directly to and from the explosion chamber, and avalve in each said passage substantially as set forth.

6. In a gas explosion engine, a cylinder, an annular inclosed space atthe outer end of the cylinder for containing water and constituting awater jacket for cooling purposes at that end, the opposite end of thecylinder adapted to be air cooled, a tubular piston closed at its innerend and open at its outer end within the cylinder and constituting anexplosion chamber, the air cooled portion of the cylinder beingsubstantially equal in length to the length of the piston and having astraight bore of a diameter equal to that of the piston, and with whichthe entire surface of the piston contacts, atubular cylinder headextending within the cylinder and closed at its inner end and 0 en atits outer end into the air for the introduction of outer air proximateto the ex losion chamber, said head being concentrlc with the cylinderthere being an annular space between the cylinder and said head forreceiving the piston during its reciprocations, there being reliefopenings from said recess for the purposes described, there also being agas inlet and a gas outlet passage communieating with the interior ofthe piston through the cylinder-head. a valve for controlling each andmeans for operating and timing the valves.

In testimony whereofI aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses,

\VILLIAM S. KELLOGG, Jn.

